Townsend v. Wheatland

• Decision Date: 07 September 1904
• Parties: TOWNSEND v. WHEATLAND.
• Court: United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court

186 Mass. 343

71 N.E. 782

TOWNSEND v. WHEATLAND.

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts, Suffolk.

September 7, 1904

COUNSEL

Robert W. Light, for plaintiff.

Warner Warner & Stackpole, for defendant.

OPINION

KNOWLTON C.J.

This cases comes before us on a report which concludes as follows 'There was no other material evidence in the case. The defendant requested me to rule that there was no evidence to justify a verdict for the plaintiff, which I refused, and submitted the case to the jury under instructions, * * * and defendant duly excepted to my refusal to give said rulings. * * * If a verdict should have been directed for the defendant judgment shall be entered for the defendant. If, upon the evidence, the jury was justified in finding for the plaintiff in the amount of the verdict, judgment is to be entered on the verdict. If, upon the evidence, the jury was justified in finding only for a less sum than the verdict, judgment is to be entered for that sum; otherwise judgment is to be entered for the defendant.' We understand the report as intended to submit to the court the whole evidence, and the questions of law above stated, for a final decision of the case, without regard to other rulings made or to instructions given at the trial. We are of opinion that there was evidence tending to show that the defendant and Warren contracted jointly with the plaintiff for the work which he undertook to do, and jointly agreed to pay him for it. There is much evidence that has an opposite tendency, but the plaintiff testified in a variety of forms that he always understood this to be the contract, and he testified to dealings with Warren and conversations with the defendant on which such an understanding properly might be founded. At the end of the cross-examination of the plaintiff the judge put a question indicating that he thought there was evidence of a joint contract, as follows: 'Assume that a joint contract was made, and that the plaintiff regarded it so, and continued to look to both of these men instead of one, according to his statement, until after the work was finished, can you proceed against one?' Upon one branch of the case he also submitted to the jury the question whether there was a contract between the plaintiff on one side and Warren and the defendant on the other. The case was submitted to the jury only on the question whether the defendant made an independent contract with the...